Miami basketball one of best January teams nationally

The Miami Hurricanes were named by 247 Sports as “College basketball: 9 biggest winners in January.” Miami is 5-2 this month with only two one-point losses to Florida State. The Miami basketball team leads the ACC with an 8-2 record and is 16-5 overall. The article was posted on Thursday.

Miami finished January 6-2 after its 73-62 victory at Georgia Tech on Saturday. Florida State had a pair of one-point victories to give Miami its only two losses of the month. Miami has been led by its backcourt of Kameron McGusty, Charlie Moore and Isaiah Wong. McGusty leads Miami averaging 17.9 points and, 6.2 rebounds.

Miami had three ACC road wins in January. The Hurricanes upset Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium for their first ACC road win in 2022. Miami followed that up with road wins at Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech this week. Despite the success this season, Miami has yet to be ranked in 2022. Miami is 65th in the NCAA Net Ratings.

Jim Larranaga has led the Miami basketball team to a winning record after three straight losing seasons. Miami has not finished with a winning record or qualified for the NCAA Tournament since 2018. The Hurricanes are currently projected to make the NCAA Tournament as an eight or nine seed by most bracketologists.

"“MIAMI HURRICANESJanuary record so far: 5-2Biggest wins: at Duke, vs. Wake Forest, vs. North CarolinaThe Canes’ only losses this month came against in-state rival Florida State, another candidate to make this list before the Seminoles imploded at Georgia Tech on Wednesday. Miami beat Clemson back in December to start ACC play 1-0, but at that point nobody saw the Canes as a legitimate contender in the league. Now, that’s clearly the case.Coach Jim Larranaga has Miami at 15-5 overall and 7-2 in the ACC, atop the league’s standings. And they have clinched the head-to-head tiebreaker over Duke thanks to a shocking road win over the Blue Devils.Miami’s advanced metrics might not look good — it ranks just No. 62 nationally in KenPom — but this team is right in the mix to win the ACC’s regular-season title thanks to a strong offense led by Kameron McGusty, Isaiah Wong and Charlie Moore.”"

Miami will begin February by hosting Notre Dame. Notre Dame entered the game on Saturday 13-6 overall and 6-2 in the ACC. The Fighting Irish were hosting Virginia on Saturday and Duke on Monday. Duke won at Louisville on Saturday to improve to 17-3 overall and 7-2 in the ACC a half-game behind Miami.

At the halfway point of the ACC season, the Miami basketball program is the biggest surprise. The Hurricanes were picked 12th in the regular season. After Notre Dame Miami has home games remaining this season against Georgia Tech, Virginia and Virginia Tech. Miami has six road games remaining this season.

Miami will travel to Virginia, Wake Forest, Louisville, and Pittsburgh in February. Miami will finish the season in March at Boston College and Syracuse before the ACC Tournament begins on March 8. As is currently stands now, Miami would receive a double-bye into the quarterfinals and begin the ACC Tournament on March 10.